Artificial tooth



S. L. GREENBERG.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH. APPLICATION FILED NOV-14,1921.

L411, @376 Patented May 23, 1922,

WITNESSES IIVI EII/ TOR SAMUEL L. GREENBERG, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

agitate.

T0 all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. GREEN- BERG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and Improved Artificial Teeth, of which the following is a '7 full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to artificial teeth,

andhas particular reference to a simple andefficient means whereby the insertion in.

and the removal of teeth from very readily achieved.

Another object resides in the provision of teeth so constructed that they readily cooperate with a mountingas to the ease with which they are placed thereon and removed the jaw is v therefrom.

A further object resides in the particular construction and arrangement of parts which are hereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The invention is illustrated in the drawin s, of whichigure .1 is a view of a portion of a set of teeth showing two artificial teeth mounted between two natural teeth in a manner according to theinvention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a tooth associated therewith.

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the teeth.

Figure t is a planview of two natural teeth between which a pair of artificial teeth are shown mounted in accordance with the invention.

The particular application of the inventive idea is shown in the drawings but other and modified forms of this simple idea may be adopted and still be within the scope of the invention.

. As shown in the drawings, T have provided an artificial tooth having slots or grooves such as 1 and 2 extending vertically along opposite sides thereof and with a curved recess or slot 3 in its bottom face.- These teeth may be made of porcelain or any other suitable material, and the slots above mentioned are provided for the ready engagement of the tooth with the mounting which is adapted to support the tooth in position on the jaw. This mounting is shown in Fig. 2 and may be made of any suitable material, such as gold, silver, or platinum-irridium. The Harticular form of Specification of Letters Patent. Paflygnted "May 23, 1922,

Application filed. November 14, 1921. Serial No. 515,052.

mounting shown in Fig. 2 comprises a substantially horizontally extending body portion 4 from which arrive vertical posts5, 6 and 7. These posts are curved to conform to the curvature of the slots-1 and 2 in the teeth,*and the upper faces, at least, of the body portion 4 are curved to'conform to the slot or recess 3 in the bottom of each tooth. It is, therefore, a simple,matter to slide a tooth into position between adjacent posts; the engagement between the posts and the corresponding lateral slots will fasten the teeth firmly on the mounting, and the curvature of the bottom slot will firmly seat the teeth on the mounting.

This mounting 4 is adapted to be'disposed, preferably on the jaw betw en a pair of natural teeth. For this purpose, the outer faces of the end posts of the mounting are provided with tongues, such as8 or 9, of any suitable formation which are adapted to engage in a similarly shaped groove such as 10 (see Fig.2) formed in a plate or casting 11 which, by any suitable dentaloperation, is firmly fastened or embedded in a recess in the natural tooth such as 12. Preferably, the upper portion of each of these tongues 8 and 9 are split vertically, as represented by the numerals 13 and 14;, to permit a certain resiliency in the tongues whereby they may be spread and firmly engage themselves in the groove 10.

mounting may be of any size or shape and can be, of course, conformed to the curvature of the jaw at will. After the mounting and the teeth are in place they may be covered by any material or any filling to present a smooth, even outer surface which not only simulates a natural tooth construction but will effectively hide the mounting if it should otherwise be apparent. If anything should happen to an artificial tooth, it can,

by reason of the above-described construction and arrangement, be readily removed and a new one substituted.

It is, therefore, to be seen that I have provided a simply constructed artificial tooth, preferably of porcelain, which can be very easily applied to and removed from a mounting or bridging element. In this way the operation of forming and applying artificial teeth is very considerably simplified,

with a consequent reduction in the time and labor and expense involved hitherto in such operations.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The combination of a support for artificial teeth having curved walls acting as tongues to engage the teeth, of a tooth hav-- ing grooves in its faces to engage with said 1 5 tongues.

'52. In combination, a mounting for teeth,

lateral slot.

( SAMUEL L. GREENBERG. 

